Getting the audience’s attention

Τραβώντας την προσοχή του κοινού

When an actor is concentrated on her own private created reality, the audience will want to get in on it. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to get the attention of a child by coaxing, begging, or demanding that she pay attention to you. It doesn’t really work, does it?

But if you are deeply involved in some task of your own, say fixing a clock, and if the task fascinates and energizes you, and if you unself-consciously allow the child to watch and partake of your fascination and energy, the child will soon come to your side. This is the function of concentration in an actor’s relationship to the audience. This is [what Stanislavsky calls] the actor’s solitude in public.